Last week a PG&E crewman was dispatched in a bucket lift truck to remove several pairs of tennis shoes in power lines overhanging the Riverbank Skate Park.

Based in the Oakdale shop, the workman said the shoes were flung onto the 17-thousand-volt overhead power transmission lines, making them unsafe.

The lines cross the nearby Staley Park and the skating complex on the west side, near the fence bordering the city facility and the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway main line.

Directly over the park concrete, near the restroom, the workman removed six pairs of canvas shoes.

More difficult, though, was the single pair in the lines further south.

Over the grass covered basin of Staley Park, a final pair hung.

The truck had to jump the curve, navigate the basin and stabilize on the outer walkway of the skate park, lifting the bucket much higher to capture its last prize.